Precious metals futures ended mostly higher Wednesday, led by gains in silver and gold. The pair moved further ahead in after-hours trading following the FOMC announcement to raise interest rates.
Gold for February delivery gained $6.90, or 0.6%, to close at $1,248.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,242.30 to a high of $1,249.60. They lost 0.4% in the previous session — ending at their worst level since July 17, and dipped 0.1% on Monday.
In electronic trading after the Fed statement, the precious metal was above $1,255 an ounce.
"The FOMC statement said more interest rate increases are likely in the coming months, but said inflation remains surprisingly tame," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily bullion report. "That is leading some to believe the Fed may not be able to raise interest rates as rapidly as it would like, in the coming months."
In another report Wednesday, the U.S. Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.4% in November with the annual inflation rate climbing to 2.2% from 2%.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery tacked on 20.1 cents, or 1.3%, to close at $15.869 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $15.68 to $15.81. They fell 0.7% on Tuesday — closing at their lowest price since July 10, and shed 0.2% in their start to the week on Monday. Silver was last at $16.05.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum slipped 30 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $875.40 an ounce, trading between $872.80 and $880.80.
- Palladium for March delivery added $1.70, or 0.2%, to $1,004.05 an ounce, ranging from $997.35 to $1,004.30
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold gained $1.75, or 0.1%, to 1,242.65 an ounce.
- Silver declined 7.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.705 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:00 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | November | December | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 28,000 | 9,500 | 28,000 | 218,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 395,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 10,500 | 2,000 | 11,500 | 97,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 120,000 | 622,000 | 385,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| 2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,400 | 0 | 32,400 |
